This film is part of Rentals
Law and Disorder
Alastair Sim is in splendid form as a staid, slightly seedy solicitor in this cheerfully patriotic war-time espionage comedy.
Director: David MacDonald
Overview
There’s Thin Man-style wisecracking and plenty of Alastair Sim’s splendid glum Scots humour in this fast-paced home-front comedy, which sees youthful solicitor Larry Preston (Barry K. Barnes) and his high-spirited wife Janet (Diana Churchill) wind up Larry’s lugubrious senior partner Samuel Bright (Sim) in their race to expose a radio-controlled wartime bombing plot.
Gifted character actor Edward Chapman (seen here as Inspector Bray) would go on to achieve comedy immortality in some of Norman Wisdom’s funniest films as the grand but long-suffering Mr Grimsdale.
Related
Mr. Topaze Mr. Topaze
Comedy 1961 97 mins Director: Peter Sellers
Charming character comedy, unseen for decades, starring Peter Sellers as a school teacher corrupted by big business.
Wild West Wild West
Comedy 1993 84 mins Director: David Attwood
Defying opposition from his conservative Pakistani family, Zaf Ayub dreams of becoming Southall's greatest gift to country & western.
Akenfield Akenfield
Drama 1975 98 mins Director: Peter Hall
Peter Hall’s extraordinary, long-unseen work of sublime poetic realism traces three generations of one Suffolk family and their lives in the farming industry.
Long Shot Long Shot
Comedy 1978 82 mins Director: Maurice Hatton
Deadpan satire about a Scottish film producer trying to make his debut feature.
Extremes Extremes
Documentary 1971 81 mins Director: Anthony Klinger and Michael Lytton
In-your-face 70s documentary exploring the lives of Hell's Angels, hippies, skinheads, rudeboys, mods and drug addicts.
They Came to a City They Came to a City
Fantasy 1945 78 mins Director: Basil Dearden
Long-unavailable Utopian fantasy (or 'socialist propaganda'?) - a true oddity from the wartime Ealing Studios.
Waterloo Road Waterloo Road
War 1945 76 mins Director: Sidney Gilliat
John Mills is the soldier who goes AWOL upon hearing of his wife’s affair, returning home to confront Stewart Granger’s home-wrecking spiv.
Hue and Cry Hue and Cry
Action and Adventure 1947 82 mins Director: Charles Crichton
An army of schoolchildren fight crime on the bomb-torn streets of postwar London in this ripping Ealing classic.
The Brothers The Brothers
Melodrama 1947 91 mins Director: David MacDonald
A swirling Skye-set melodrama about the murderous grudge between two Scottish clans, aroused by the arrival of a newcomer to the isle.
Our Mothers Our Mothers
Drama 2019 77 mins Director: César Díaz
As Guatemala confronts its violent past, a forensic anthropologist is tasked with identifying the dead, in this affecting Cannes prize-winning drama.
Red Herring Red Herring
Documentary 2023 94 mins Director: Kitson Vincent
Following his terminal diagnosis, young filmmaker Kit Vincent sets out to document an intimate and darkly humorous journey in this BIFA nominated documentary.
Robot Dreams Robot Dreams
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 103 mins Director: Pablo Berger
Spanish director Pablo Berger delivers a rich and emotionally engaging dialogue-free animation about friendship, set in a bustling 1980s New York City.
Stephen Stephen
Drama-documentary 2023 78 mins Director: Melanie Manchot
Artist Melanie Manchot’s debut feature is a visually striking film-within-a-film, exploring mental health and addiction.
Red Island Red Island
Drama 2023 117 mins Director: Robin Campillo
French writer-director Robin Campillo offers a searching exploration of memory and politics, in this boldly conceived story of boyhood in 1970s Madagascar.
Drift Drift
Drama 2023 93 mins Director: Anthony Chen
Cynthia Erivo delivers a captivating performance as a young refugee, who after fleeing war-torn Liberia finds hope when she meets a fellow lost soul.